3 Responses to Birth of a Backcourt: Warriors 124 Raptors 112

This game was a complete suprise. I expected the Raptors to come in hungry and just work the ball inside where we had no defense. Remarkable how a team in the playoff hunt had no fire. That doesn’t say much for their coach or team chemistry. You are right, Bosh is gone.

Bosh last night, on what Toronto needs to do to turn their season around:

“Just do it. Act like you care,” he said. “I’m going down playing offense on (the Warriors) side of the court and their bench is louder than we are. That doesn’t make any sense. They’re not playing for anything.”

from the Yahoo recap

When the Warriors click on all cylinders they are gorgeous to watch. I’ll take art any day of the season, any way I can get it.

There was some kind of flak early in the season — blown up in the press — where Ellis complained to Nelson he couldn’t do everything. It was a time when he felt that the burden of leadership of the club was put on his shoulders, as it was. He doesn’t have to do everything, and he learned that last night. He scored 31 seemingly effortlessly. And Curry would gladly have given up 20 points if he had someone else to feed the ball to, down low or outside.

Few think about what Monta can learn and develop into. He can’t play off the ball. Yes he can. He isn’t a three point shooter. Maybe he is. What else can he do that we don’t think he can do? And would his defense improve if he weren’t playing so many minutes and didn’t have to carry such a large offensive load or sacrifice his body on all those drives?

This backcourt can work. Many say a small backcourt can’t take the team far into the playoffs, and maybe so. But this backcourt is not their major problem. They have questions marks at the other three positions which would take an unthinkable amount of money and luck to obtain. Instead, let’s keep what we have and build the best team we can, then see where it takes us, rather than throw away what we have and start once more from scratch.

I can’t see Watson landing a starting job elsewhere, but here he can spell Monta or Curry, and fill in when one is down. He doesn’t lead, but his high energy has been an influence, especially the last weeks.

Or maybe keep Raja Bell and have him fill in the third slot?

Are any of our power forwards any good?

Are we going to have a healthy center?

(Would this club inspire Bosh to play?)

But we don’t need a franchise player and a lot of mediocre parts — and we’re not going to get one anyway.

People forget that Isaiah Thomas and Joe Dumars headlined one of the best defensive clubs in history.

If you put a real frontline, and a defensive wing player ala Buike or Bell, behind Monta and Curry, you will not recognize what becomes of their defense. Basketball is a team game, on both sides of the ball.